Annunciator.



. Zfliiiitaaea I G. M. CAGLE.

ANNUNCIATOR.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. s, 1912.

1,067,464, Patented July 15, 1913.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CARTER M. CAGLE, OF DOWNEY, CALIFORNIA, ASSIG-NOR 0F ONE-THIRD TO A. G.

HAYWOOD AND ONE-THIRD T0 GRACE HAYWOOD, BOTH 0F DOWNEY, GALI- FORNIA.

ANNUNCIATOR.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 15, 1913.

To all whom 2'25 may concern Be it known that I, CARTER M. Gnome, acitizen of the United States, and resident of Downey, in the county ofLos Angeles and State of California, have invented certain new anduseful Improvements in Annunciators, of which the following is aspecification.

My invention pertains to annunciators, and it has special reference tomeans whereby the web containing the announcements may be regularly andpositively brought into position and reversed.

It also provides a simple and eflicient means for applying the web andoperating it within a case, so that the street number or itherannouncement which is exposed may be readily seen, as will now be setforth in detail.

The invention is applicable not only for use in street cars, but also,railroads, signaling purposes, railway crossings, cab calling devices,or other purposes where announcements are desirable and serviceable, butit is particularly applicable for announcing stations or localitiesconnected with transportation service.

In the accompanying drawing, Figure 1 is a front view of theannunciator, partly in section. Fig. 2 is a vertical cross section ofthe annunciator on line 2-2 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is an end view of theannunciator with the end of the case removed. Fig. 1 is an end view ofthe annunciator with the operating cord and lever to illustrate themovement of the ratchet lever and yoke, and Fig. 5 is an end view of therollers and one of the elastic belts which keep the roller and drum inproper relation with each other.

In carrying out my invention I prepare a case, which comprises a base 6,ends 7, 8 and a shell 9, the members 7, 8, 9 being secured together andattached by screws 10 to the base so that the mechanism within may beexposed. At the operating end of the case is a vertical opening 11 inthe lower part of the end 8, so that the inclosing shell may bewithdrawn without interference from the projecting shaft. At one side isan opening which has a glass closure plate 12. Within the inclosingshell, and secured to the base at each end is a vertical post 13, and oneach side of this post and spaced apart a suitable distance is a sidepost 14: held in alinement at their upper ends by a cross connecting bar15, and a longitudinal bar 16 extends from end to end securing the upperends of the vertical posts together. Midway between the upper and thelower ends of the posts 13 are the journal bearings for a large drum 17,this drum extending from end to end of the shell between the end posts.At one end the shaft 18 terminates substantially flush with the outersur faces of the bearing post, and at the other end the shaft extendsbeyond the end 8 of the shell. Above and below the drum 17 are rollers18, 19, each provided with a shaft 20, the ends of these shafts restingin vertical slots 21 formed through the main posts 13, so the rollersmay move to and from the drum 17 a limited distance, and the shafts arej ournaled at each end through a pair of cross bars 22, which overlapboth sides of the posts 18, 14. These cross bars are secured to blocks23 which slide in the guide ways formed between the posts. Between theupper and lower block in each guide way is a spiral spring 2a. to drawthe blocks together, and thereby bring the two rollers into intimatecontact with the drum 17.

The web 25 which has printed thereon the names of the streetssuccessively or any other announcements desired by the user, and theweb, is wound on one roller in one direction, and wound on the otherroller in the opposite direction, the web engaging with the drum 17 asit passes from one roller to the other, and in order to cause the web towind up on one roller as fast as it is unwound from the other roller Iemploy an elastic belt 27, Fig. 5, at each end of the drum which passesaround the two rollers 18, 19, the body of the belts intermediate the'rollers resting against the drum, so that by frictional contact theelastic belts turn the rollers and assure a positive movement of the webproportionate to the travel of the drum, and the motion of the wb isnot, therefore, dependent 011 the motion of either of the rollers 18,19, as hereinafter pointed. out.

The forward projecting end of the shaft 18, which carries the drum,carries thereon a toothed gear 28, a yoke 29 being provided with itslimbs projecting down on opposite sides of the gear, and through whichthe shaft 18 passes. This yoke is normally in a vertical position andits pivotal point at the shaft 18 is near its lower end, and a spiralspring attached to the lower end of this yoke, having its lower endsecured to the base of the case, serves to keep the yoke substantiallyin. vertical position.

Above the gear 28, and pivoted to the limbs of the yoke 29, is a ratchetlever 30, the teeth of which are adapted to engage with the gear 28; anda pair of operating cords secured to the upper end of the ratchet lever,as at 32, have their ends extending downwardly and passing through guideloops 33 at the lower end of the frame. In operation, therefore, if oneend of the operating cord is drawn downwardly the result is that theratchet lever swings over and one tooth of the ratchet engages with thetoothed gear 28, and the upper end of the yoke is carried over andtransmits a revoluble mo tion to the drum, the movement being soregulated that when the drum turns theprinted street or announcement onthe web will register at the glass covered opening in the case. hen theweb is fully unwound from one roller the motion of the drum is reversedby using the cord 31 on the other side, thus enabling the user to exposethe numbers successively, and in a positive manner.

The elastic belt has a very important function when wound over therollers and in con tact with the drum as herein shown, for the followingreasons: It is obvious that, as the belts 27 are carried around theendsof the rollers 18, 19, and are also in frictional contact with theintermediate drum 17,. the two rollers will, in the absence of the web25, travel at the same rate of speed. Since, however, the web travelsfrom one roller to the other, it is clear that the web will graduallydecrease the diameter of one roll, and increase the diameter of theother. I have found in practice that non-elastic belts used in thisconnection, will not positively feed the web the predetermined distanceeach time, but that, on the other hand, the elastic belt will produce auniform travel of the web at each turning movement of the drum, for thisreason 2 That portion of the body of each belt which is in directcontact with the drum 1'( has a greater grip than than part of the beltswhich pass around the rollers, so that the elastic belts actually slipon the ends of the rollers when theweb ac cumulation is greater than thediameter of the roll hence, the web is carried forward the rate of speeddetermined by the drum, and not by the speed or speeds assumed by therollers.

It has been found, in practice, that where there is an intermittentmotion imparted to the rollers, the tendency is to loosen the web on thedriven rollers, where a non-elastic belt is used; but with an elasticbelt, the web, as it accumulates on the roller, endeavors to turn thedriven roller faster than it is normally being driven at the contactpoint between the driving roller and the accumulated web; hence, theelastic belt has a function, not found in the use of the non-elasticbelt.

What I claim as new, is

1. In an annunciator, a drum, a pair of rollers on opposite sidesthereof, a web, the opposite ends of which are attached to therespective rollers, said web being in contact with the drum, and therollers having at each end an endless elastic belt which extends aroundeach roller and is in contact with the same side of the drum with whichthe web contacts.

2. In an annunciator, a drum, a pair of rollers diametrically smallerthan the drum, one above and one below said drum, a web with its endsattached to the respective rollers, and in contact with one side of thedrum, and an endless elastic belt which extends around each end of therollers and contacts with the drum on the same side where the webengages therewith.

3. In an annunciator, a drum, a pair of rollers, diametrically smallerthan the drum, one roller being above and the other roller below thedrum, an elastic belt at each end of the rollers and around the same,and 8X- tending past one side of and contacting with the drum, and aweb, one end of which is wound around the upper roller and the other endwound around the lower roller and in intermediate contact with the drum,the windings on the rollers being in opposite directions.

4. In an annunciator, a case, a drum, a roller above and a roller belowsaid drum, an elastic belt at each end which extends around the rollersand engages with only one side of the drum, a web around the rollers andin contact with one side of the drum, said web having printed announcements thereon, and the case being provided with an exposure opening atone side.

Signed at the city of Los engelcs county of; Los Angeles State ofCalifornia, this 1st day of May, 1912, in the presence of witnesses.

CARTER M. CAGLE. Witnesses EDMUND KAsoLD, J. Z. ZERBE.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents. each, byaddressing the Commissioner of Patents,-

' Washington, D. C.

